Source: Newswise.comPress Release [Ohio State University\The federal government’s proposal to discontinue protection for the gray wolf across the United States could have the unintended consequence of endangering other species, researchers say.As written, scientists assert, the proposed rule would set a precedent allowing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to declare habitat unsuitable for an endangered animal because a threat exists on the land – the exact opposite of the service’s mandate to impose regulations that reduce threats against imperiled species.The FWS has “conflated threats with habitat suitability” by stating that U.S. land currently unoccupied by wolves – most of the country that historically served as wolf habitat – is now unsuitable because humans living in those regions won’t tolerate the animals, the lead scientist said. This claim runs counter to existing research, which the service did not cite in its explanation of the rule.“The Fish and Wildlife Service is supposed to detail what the threats are and if they’re substantial enough, they’re supposed to list a species and put in place policies to mitigate the threats,” said Jeremy Bruskotter, associate professor in The Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources and lead author of the paper. “Here, they’re saying that they recognize the threat of human intolerance and instead of mitigating the threat, they’re just going to say the land is unsuitable.”Were this rule to stand, he said, “Anytime the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds that something is in the way of a species’ recovery, they can just say the habitat is unsuitable for the species and disregard the threat altogether.”FWS proposed removing the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from the list of threatened and endangered species in June. The rule covers most of the continental United States where wolves historically existed, before being exterminated by people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Public comments closed Dec. 17, and will be analyzed and considered before the service issues a final rule.The critique is published online in the journal Conservation Letters.Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973. More....

Source: Scpr.orgFewer than 5,000 black rhinos are thought to exist in the wild, and in an effort to preserve the species, the Dallas Safari Club is offering a chance to kill one. The Texas-based hunting organization is auctioning off a permit to hunt a rhinoceros in Nambia. It's a fundraiser intended to help save the larger population. The idea may sound counter-intuitive, but Dallas Safari Club executive Ben Carter tells NPR's Jennifer Ludden that raising the funds to support the species is what many scientists and biologists believe is the best way to grow the population of black rhinos. "It takes money for these animals to exist. A lot of people don't recognize that," Carter says. An endangered species like the black rhino needs a lot of support — land, protection, management, studies. "This is one way to raise a lot of money at one time," he says. "That can make a huge impact on the future of the species." Predictably, the Jan. 11 auction has raised controversy within the environmental community. There's an online petition, currently just short of 50,000 signatures, calling to stop the auction. Carter and his staff have received a lot of hate mail, including death threats. Carter says many of those who object are not educated in the role that hunting plays in conservation. A habitat can only sustain a certain population, he says, and any excess can be harvested and used to raise money through selling things like hunting licenses and permits. The winner of the Dallas Safari Club's auction will hunt a specially selected rhino. Namibia's Department of Wildlife looks for a rhino that's too old to breed — and too aggressive to stay in the herd. When black rhinos get older, Carter says, they remain territorial and sometimes kill younger rhino bulls and calves. He says the department often removes these rhinos for the protection of the population anyway. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledges the practice can be helpful, reports The Washington Post: "The removal of limited numbers of males has been shown to stimulate population growth in some areas," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Removing specific individuals from a population can result in reduced male fighting, shorter calving intervals and reduced juvenile mortality." More....

Source: Newswatch.nationalgeographic.comBy Ken Ramirez, Chuck Knapp, Tim Binder, Jim RobinettSince the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed by President Nixon on Dec. 28, 1973, the Act has helped recover more than 30 species, prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the species it protects and currently protects more than 2,140 species. Conservation and learning at accredited zoos and aquariums, in partnership with local and federal agencies, have been key players in wildlife recovery efforts, including animals on the ground such as the black-footed ferret to those in the sea including the green sea turtles and those in the air like the California condors. Forty years later, the numbers are an incredible reminder of the power of a single act. While our efforts have saved some species, we have lost others in the wild. Today, a few species that are thought to be extinct in the wild can only be seen in aquariums and zoos – a reminder of the frailty and majesty of the living world and our impact on it. At Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, we are home for 14 animals on ESA’s threatened or endangered list, 33 animals on the IUCN Red List and five threatened in Illinois. As the anniversary approaches, four leaders from Shedd reflect on 40 years of the ESA and what the next 40 years will hold.Species protection with extinction prevention Accredited zoos and aquariums have always been conservation-minded, but the way we approach conservation has expanded. We now use a multi-dimensional approach focused on individual animals in our care, field research on wild populations and their natural habitats, and public education. We as a zoo and aquarium community have forged stronger and more collaborative recovery efforts to create a substantial impact as a united front. Many of us care for animals protected under the ESA, and we play a key role in advancing the science of wildlife recovery that is critical to avoid further species extinction. The most important part of our work is the emphasis to keep species off the threatened or endangered list. A long-sighted view about protecting animals and habitats that are currently thriving is essential to successful conservation. I hope one day we are so successful in our efforts that we no longer need to add new animals to the ESA list each year. More....

Source: Tallahassee.comEditorialIn the Everglades, an area synonymous with Florida wildlife, Burmese pythons now slither through the river of grass. The invasive snakes can grow to more than 20 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds. One 16-footer was found with a full-grown deer in its belly. Others have devoured alligators. Sightings in the Everglades of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals have plummeted.Just west of Miami, state biologists are taking a survey based on the suspicion that rock pythons are now established there. The rock python, the largest snake in Africa, will eat almost anything.Meanwhile, in a federal court in Washington, D.C., the United States Association of Reptile Keepers is suing to overturn a ban on the importation and transportation of four constrictor snakes — including the Burmese python.That’s crazy.In January 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — taking into account public comments and business and environmental analyses — banned the Burmese python, yellow anaconda, and the northern and southern African pythons as injurious wildlife. The rule was announced at a news conference in the Everglades.Those who already owned snakes could keep them — unless possession was illegal under state law, as it is in Florida for the Burmese python. But they could not bring them across state lines.However, the United States Association of Reptile Keepers says the ban is crippling the constricting-snake industry, which brought in $100 million in revenue each year — about a tenth of the $1.0 billion to $1.4 billion generated by the reptile industry as a whole.“Many thousands of small businesses are financially reliant on this trade,” USARK said.A key allegation is that the Fish and Wildlife Service used improper climate data to calculate where the invasive snakes could survive in the wild. In trying to guess where these snakes can or can’t survive, let’s err on the side of caution. As South Florida can attest, once an invasive species is established, there is no eliminating it.Besides, Florida continues to attract people from all over the country with the same gentle climate that allows the snakes to thrive. So if the snakes are freely traded elsewhere, you know where some will wind up.The spread of creatures that pose such a threat should be stopped. Let’s hope the court sees it that way, too.

Source: Truthdig.comBy Scott MartelleThe photos are hard to resist, as is the inherent good news: Panda production is up, at least in captive breeding programs. So what will happen if the efforts to save the endangered species succeed in the wild? Well, if what we’ve done to the gray wolf is any indicator, goodbye, pandas.National Public Radio ran a Christmas Eve piece on the laudable success of captive breeding programs for pandas, reporting that the 42 black-and-white balls of fuzz born this year are a record. "The Chinese government’s last survey of pandas puts the wild population at roughly 1,600 animals. A new survey is expected to be released next year. Jonathan Ballou, population manager at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the National Zoo, worries that the remaining panda habitat is fragmented, so pandas cannot roam from one forest to another. 'It’s not 1,600 animals in some big huge forest,' he explains. 'It’s 1,600 animals that are spread among a dozen or so forests, and some of them have very few animals. So there is going to be inbreeding and there are going to be catastrophes like landslides, which destroy the habitat.' Ballou’s focus now is on preserving as much genetic diversity as possible in the captive population, with the aim of breeding pandas that, as a group, are hardier and less vulnerable to disease. The ultimate goal is to return that genetic diversity to the wild." Conservationists have already had success in reintroducing other near-extinct animals into the wild, notably gray wolves. In fact, it’s been so successful, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending the gray wolf be dropped from the endangered species list. And in some places, the animals are already being hunted—which, of course, is one of the primary reasons they became endangered in the first place. The wild wolf population declined 16 percent in the northern Rockies from 2011 to 2012—a direct result of hunting. In Idaho next week, the wolves will be the subject—or, rather, target—of as distasteful a program as one can imagine, a killing derby for young hunters. From Boise State Public Radio: More....

The Endangered Species Act is turning 40, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it has a lot to be proud of, including past and current efforts to protect plants and animals in New Hampshire.Ahead of Friday's anniversary, the federal agency says New Hampshire provides homes to nearly 15 imperiled species, from the Karner blue butterfly to Jesup's milk-vetch, an extremely rare member of the bean family found only at three sites along a 15-mile stretch of the Connecticut River.On the animal side, efforts are underway across southern New Hampshire to conserve the natural habitat of the region's only native rabbit, the New England cottontail, and the threatened Canada lynx has been confirmed to be breeding in the state.

Source: TheDenverchannel.comBy Matthew BrownFederal wildlife officials have crafted a new plan to restore the highly endangered black-footed ferret that includes re-introducing the animal to more states.The prairie dog-eating member of the weasel family was thought to be extinct until 1981, when a rancher found a solitary enclave of the animals in northwest Wyoming.A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan released Monday calls for boosting their numbers to about 3,000 animals. That's versus about 500 black-footed ferrets in the wild today.The agency will work with private and public landowners to establish new populations across a 12-state historic range stretching from Texas to the Canadian border.Past recovery efforts were hampered by resistance from the agriculture industry and disease that wiped out many prairie dog colonies that ferrets depend on.

Source: Oregonlive.comEnvironmental groups Monday asked a federal judge to halt a planned wolf and coyote derby in Idaho, calling the event an illegal killing contest.The complaint by Wild Earth Guardians and other environmental groups in U.S. District Court in Pocatello contends the U.S. Forest Service ignored federal laws by allowing the derby to proceed this Saturday and Sunday without requiring organizers to first secure a special-use permit for a commercial event.A pro-hunting group behind the derby, Idaho for Wildlife, aims to lure up to 300 adults and children to Salmon to boost the economy — and raise awareness for health concerns it says are related to wolves.The environmentalists say the Forest Service failed to follow its own procedures and violated the National Environmental Policy Act by "failing entirely to consider the environmental impacts of allowing the killing contest."They're asking a judge to halt the event by issuing a temporary restraining order.Wolves are game animals in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming after federal Endangered Species Act protections were lifted starting in 2011. There are annual hunting and trapping seasons.Idaho has about 680 wolves, according to 2012 estimates, following their reintroduction to the state starting in 1995 after they were nearly wiped out in the 1970s.Coyote derbies aren't uncommon around the West, but including wolves in a contest offering up to $2,000 in cash prizes and trophies has sparked an outcry among environmental groups. Joining Wild Earth Guardians in the lawsuit were Project Coyote, the Western Watersheds Project, the Boulder-White Clouds Council and the Animal Welfare Institute.

In mid-December, Idaho for Wildlife approached the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management about the event. More....

Source: Statesman.comBy Alex DropkinEvery morning, Sophia eats a handful of grapes and perks up. She stretches her legs and, on good days, takes a lap or two around the artificial forest in her enclosure.Sophia is a two-toed sloth, and the grapes — met with a wet, black nose and long tongue — amount to dessert. Her staples are sweet potatoes, vegetables and monkey chow.The two-toed sloth is endemic to Central and South America. Sophia has lived at Zoo Keeper Exotic Pets in North Austin for 12 years, since being rescued from an owner who had lost interest in her. Sophia has become both a public attraction and an educational tool of sorts, serving as a reminder of the consequences of Texas’ lax — some say absent — regulation of the exotic pet trade.Texas is one of 21 states with no restrictions on private ownership of exotic animals, according to Born Free USA, a national animal advocacy group. The Texas Department of State Health Services oversees statutes on the definition and handling of dangerous animals, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department manages nonnative species in relation to their impact on native plants and animals, but the onus of regulation is left to cities and counties.“That just shows that in Texas, it’s considered not important enough for it to even be handled by the state,” said Lynn Cuny, founder and president of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Kendalia, “and that’s a real tragedy.”Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation receives a dozen or more calls a year to rescue primates, parrots, nonnative reptiles and larger animals from overwhelmed owners. Texas is home to more exotic animals than any other state, according to the Humane Society.“People love the whole idea of having (an animal) in their midst who is novel, who is very unique and who is going to make them look like they’re special,” Cuny said. “It’s a very kind of sick relationship.”Sophia is a star inside the Zoo Keeper store, at the corner of Burnet Road and U.S. 183. It sells exotic birds, snakes, turtles, insects, mammals and other unusual critters. Owner Daniel Keeper said he gets at least one customer asking to buy the sloth every day. But Sophia isn’t for sale. More....

Source: Annamiticus.comBy Rhishja Cota-LarsonChinese national Zhifei Li has pleaded guilty to orchestrating an illegal operation which smuggled 30 rhinoceros horns and numerous objects made from rhino horn and elephant ivory worth more than $4.5 million from the United States to China. Li, who owns an antiques business called “Overseas Treasure Finding” in Shandong, China, was arrested in January 2013. He pleaded guilty to:

One count of conspiracy to smuggle and violate the Lacey Act;

Seven counts of smuggling;

One count of illegal wildlife trafficking in violation of the Lacey Act;

Two counts of making false wildlife documents.

“Li sold whole rhino horns to factories where they would be carved into fake antiques. The leftover pieces from the carving process were sold for alleged ‘medicinal’ purposes even though rhino horn is made of compressed keratin, the same material in human hair and nails and has no proven medical efficacy.” Li purchased rhino horns in Florida, where he was attending the Original Miami Beach Antique Show. Not only did Li purchase two black rhino horns from an undercover USFWS agent, he asked the officer to procure additional rhino horns and mail them to Hong Kong. In 2011 and 2012, Li arranged the shipment of rhino horns to addresses in Hong Kong in order to facilitate the smuggling of horns to mainland China. The rhino horns were concealed with duct tape and hidden inside porcelain vases. Li also arranged the smuggling of ivory carvings to China, falsely labeled as “wood carvings” as well as two elephant tusks weighing more than 100 pounds, which were labeled as “automobile parts”.According to court documents, Li worked with at least three co-conspirators. He wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to one of them, while the other two co-conspirators purchased rhino horns from various sources, including an auction house in Missouri. “Li admitted that he was the ‘boss’ of three antique dealers in the United States whom he paid to help obtain wildlife items and smuggle them to him via Hong Kong.” In December 2010, Li advised a co-conspirator to respond to an internet advertisement offering rhino horn for sale. The co-conspirator was subsequently provided with photos of rhino horns, as well as the rhino from which the horns were procured, from an individual in Cameroon. Then in March 2011, Li’s co-conspirator wired approximately $16,000 to Cameroon for the purpose of obtaining two rhino horns. The seller “promised” to bring additional horns into the United States. Between February 2011 and February 2012, Li and his co-conspirators conducted various rhino horn transactions in Miami and Ormond Beach, Florida, and Wanaque, Ridgefield, and Little Ferry, New Jersey. From April 2012 through January 2013, Li facilitated illegal rhino horn deals in Texas. More....

Source: Gainesville.comBy Michael Markarian It’s been big news that non-native boa constrictors, Burmese pythons and African rock pythons are living and breeding in the wild and subsequently wreaking havoc on the ecosystem, frightening citizens and killing pets in residential neighborhoods. The question isn’t if these dangerous predators are going to colonize other areas, but when and where they are going to become established. Scientists confirmed last year that non-native boa constrictors are now breeding in Puerto Rico and spreading across the island. Boa constrictors have established more invasive populations than any other species of constrictor snake. In addition to parts of Florida and Puerto Rico, boas are also established in Cozumel and Aruba where they consume an estimated 17,000 birds annually. Earlier this year, two boa constrictors were found loose on public property in Hawaii, another state where the snakes can survive.These Boa constrictor invasions may have been triggered when owners who could no longer care for their pet snakes dumped them into the wild. Too often people purchase pet snakes when the animals are young and manageable, but there are very few options for placement once they grow too dangerous to handle. In South Florida, the non-native snake invasion caused by irresponsible pet owners may have been exacerbated when a hurricane destroyed a reptile dealer’s facility, setting captive snakes loose where they now prey on native wildlife, including endangered species.“Once non-native snakes become established across a large area, especially in densely forested areas, they become much more difficult to find and almost impossible to eradicate,” U.S. Geological Survey scientist Bob Reed told CBS News for its story about the Puerto Rican boa constrictor invasion. In fact, not a single invasive reptile species has ever been eradicated through management efforts and taxpayers will continue to spend millions of dollars to try and control the snakes already thriving in Florida’s environment.With clutch sizes of up to 124 eggs, these snakes reproduce rapidly. The release or escape of a single pregnant python in a hospitable habitat could result in colonization in a new area. The more humane and fiscally responsible approach is to prevent the problem in the first place. In 2010, Florida passed a law making it illegal to breed, sell or keep most large constrictor snakes as pets.It’s overdue for the Obama administration to follow suit on a national scale. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had a proposal under consideration to ban the trade of nine exotic snake species that the U.S. Geological Survey identified as posing a significant risk to the environment. More....

Source: Wjbc.comU.S. officials warned Thursday of an "urgent" need to stop the increasing "slaughter of magnificent creatures" around the world, as they announced a "significant" step toward fighting animal poaching.

Earlier Thursday, a Chinese businessman pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to leading a ring that smuggled horns, tusks, and ornamental cups and figurines made from endangered rhinos or elephants to China.

"We really do face an urgent challenge in trying to stem the ongoing slaughter of rhinos and elephants and other wildlife," Dan Ashe, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in announcing the plea.

So far this year, 940 rhinos have been killed in South Africa alone and "that slaughter continues to escalate," Ashe said.

It's part of a multibillion-dollar black market, funded by "the brutality of animal poaching," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. And while such poaching used to be the work of small-scale opportunists, it is now a "coordinated slaughter commissioned by armed and organized criminal syndicates," according to Robert Dreher, the acting head of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Citing "a mounting crisis," Dreher called Thursday's announcement "one of the most significant prosecutions that we have ever engaged in."

Thursday Zhifei Li, 28, admitted that he directed Chinese antique dealers inside the United States to find auction houses and brokers – as far away as Israel – who were selling rhino horns and items made from such horns. Those dealers, being paid by Li, would then ship the animal parts and artifacts overseas from a U.S. post office in New Jersey, where the items would be hidden in porcelain vases, according to court documents previously filed in the case.

Over the past two years, Li conspired to smuggle more than 30 horns and artifacts to China, with buyers there paying more than $17,000 a pound, Li told a federal judge in New Jersey as he pleaded guilty to 11 charges against him.

Earlier this year, Li flew to Florida for the Original Miami Beach Antique Show where he allegedly agreed to buy two endangered black rhinoceros horns for $59,000 from a supposed dealer. The two met in a Miami Beach hotel room, and Li allegedly asked if even more horns could be mailed to him overseas. However, Li was actually meeting with an undercover agent from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, according to court documents previously filed in the case.Fourteen others have been arrested in connection with the smuggling ring. More....

Source: News.nationalgeographic.comBy Jane J. LeeSnot otters. Lasagna lizards. Allegheny alligators. With nicknames like these, you'd think the actual animal, a salamander more commonly known as a hellbender, would be a natural poster child for endangered wildlife.Instead, hellbenders live quiet lives tucked away under large rocks in the mountain streams of eastern North America, from Arkansas to New York. Ranging in color from mottled olive-gray to chocolate brown with rust-colored splotches, the nocturnal amphibians can easily be mistaken for rocks, if they're seen at all. But that rarity is what concerns researchers. There are two varieties or subspecies of hellbenders—the Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishop) and the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis)—and both have been quietly slipping away since about the 1980s. The U.S. government currently considers the eastern hellbender a species of concern, while the Ozark subspecies was federally listed as endangered in 2011. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species classifies the hellbender as near threatened, although their total number is unknown. (See "'Snot Otter' Sperm to Save Giant Salamander?") In New York State, researchers began to see small declines in their eastern hellbender population starting in the 1980s, said Ken Roblee, senior wildlife biologist with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. But it wasn't until a 2005 survey that scientists saw a 40 percent reduction in the number of adults at monitoring sites, perhaps due to predation or disease—researchers are still trying to figure out the causes. "That got us really concerned," Roblee said. Declining populations have prompted conservation efforts in New York, as well as in states across the hellbender range, including Ohio and Missouri. These programs aim to study the biology of North America's largest salamander—which can reach a length of 2 feet (0.6 meter)—as well as to try and reintroduce the animals to the wild.Murky Future Salamanders are vulnerable for a few reasons. First, "they are really closely tied to their environment," said Kim Terrell, a conservation biologist with the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., who studies hellbender immune systems. More....

Source: Biologicaldiversity.orgPress ReleaseCiting concerns that federal estimates of Yellowstone grizzly bear population size and trends are not reliable, the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today asking it to release all the data on which those estimates are based. The agency’s claims of substantial population increases are being used to justify calls for removing Endangered Species Act protections from the region’s bears next year.“When the nation’s top grizzly scientists disagree about how many bears there are and whether the population is increasing or declining it’s irresponsible to consider dropping federal protections,” said Louisa Willcox, a grizzly bear conservation advocate with the Center. “If the Fish and Wildlife Service has data that shows increased bear numbers, the agency should have no problem providing the data for independent analysis.” At interagency grizzly bear committee meetings in Missoula last week, the Fish and Wildlife Service claimed there may be more than 800 grizzly bears, up from an estimated 600 bears reported by federal researchers in each of the past three years. This purported increase corresponded with significant changes in population models and interpretations of data that have not been made available to the public. “Yellowstone grizzly bears are facing a world of uncertainty right now that must be addressed before we can safely pull the plug on protections,” said Christine Wilcox, a research scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Rapid changes in food resources. Increased conflicts with humans. Isolated populations that cast doubt on their genetic future. None of this bodes well for the bears.” Last week Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen announced the agency will make a final decision about removing federal protections from Yellowstone’s threatened grizzly bears in 30 days; delisting could occur in 2014. Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are pushing to take over management and institute sport hunts of bears, much as they have with wolves. “Outstanding questions about actual population numbers, trends over time, and the long-term effects of the relatively recent loss of key grizzly food sources remain. Valid scientific concerns should not be trumped by politics," said Bonnie Rice, Greater Yellowstone representative for Sierra Club's Our Wild America Campaign. More....

Source: Newstimes.comState and federal wildlife authorities are offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the suspicious death of an endangered Florida panther.The panther was found dead Dec. 7 in the Big Cypress National Preserve with a suspected gunshot wound. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating. Anonymous tips can be reported to the state wildlife commission at 888-404-3922.Florida panthers are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Unlawfully killing one is a third-degree felony with a maximum penalty of a year in prison and $100,000 in fines.Bob DeGross of the National Park Service says the panther was an 18-month-old female implanted with a microchip.

Source: Huffingtonpost.comBy David FleshlerA reptile industry trade group has gone to court to overturn a federal ban on the import of four species of large snake, including the Burmese pythons that have infested the Everglades. The United States Association of Reptile Keepers, which represents dealers, importers, breeders and hobbyists, filed suit in federal court Thursday to overturn a 2012 ban on the import and interstate trade in Burmese pythons, northern and southern African pythons and yellow anacondas. The group said the federal ban rested on shaky scientific evidence, including a highly exaggerated projection of the snakes' potential geographic range in the United States, and inadequate economic analysis that understated the potential harm to the reptile industry. "This is a powerful day for the Reptile Nation, as we fight to protect your rights to pursue your passion and defend your businesses against unwarranted and unnecessary government intrusion," stated an email Friday to members of the reptile group. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the import and interstate trade in the snakes on Jan. 17, 2012, with then Interior Secretary Ken Salazar traveling to Everglades National Park to make the announcement. Biologists at the park have called the python a major threat to native wildlife, with the huge snakes consuming rabbits, birds, raccoons, alligators and full-grown deer. East of the park, African rock pythons are suspected of establishing a breeding population along Tamiami Trail. Tom MacKenzie, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the ban was necessary to protect native wildlife."Banning the import and interstate movement of these large, non-native snakes will help prevent spread of these snakes into wild populations beyond those already established," he said. The Humane Society of the United States called the lawsuit an attempt to protect profits from the sale of dangerous animals that have killed 15 people in the United States."This is the very industry that peddles high-maintenance dangerous predators to unqualified people at flea markets, swap meets, and over the Internet," said Debbie Leahy, captive wildlife specialist for the Humane Society. "Banning just a handful of dangerous species has little impact on businesses, since there are literally hundreds of less risky snake and reptile species available to pet purchasers." More....

Source: Jrn.comThe Idaho Aquarium released a statement on the removal of its sea turtle, Beam, Wednesday afternoon. U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife removed the green sea turtle from the Idaho Aquarium on Tuesday. The action was a result of the conviction of Ammon Convino and Christopher Conk on December 2, 2013 for illegal trafficking of marine wildlife. “We knew that Beam, our sea turtle, would eventually be removed as a result of legal actions against the founders,” says Nancy Vannorsdel, CEO of the Aquarium. The aquarium can petition for the return of the sea turtle. “Unfortunately the result of their [original founders\ misconduct was the loss of our sea turtle. We have 45 days to appeal the revocation of our turtle permit and we plan to take advantage of that time,” says Vannorsdel. “We learned much while caring for Beam and we played a big part in his rehabilitation while educating the public on sea turtle conservation.” “On a happier note," said Vannorsdel, "today we received our Giant Pacific Octopus; a welcomed addition to our aquatic family." A new Octopus Palace is under construction at the aquarium, which will improve the habitat for eight-legged residents and provide better viewing opportunities to visitors. The aquarium has taken strides to distance itself from a murky past that included Covino, Conk, and accusations by former workers of animal abuse and neglect. It hopes to increase membership and bring back visitors; numbers dropped substantially after Covino and Conk's arrests and susequent allegations of mismanagement and negligence. Vannorsdel stated that seven new "highly qualified, respected leaders" were added to the board but did not give their names, nor are they mentioned on the Idaho Aquarium's website. "We strive for transparency and adhere to every legal regulation expected of a public aquarium,” Vannorsdel said. She hopes the board members "will play a major role in the development of our facility and marine-life expansion in the months to come.”

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) congratulates authorities in China’s Jilin Province for the recent arrests of five poachers – the largest ever for the province.

The arrests were made by the Forestry Police of the Hunchun Municipal Forestry Bureau (HMFB), who said the organized gang of poachers with two jeeps and 18 hunting dogs admitted to killing more than 20 animals including tiger prey. In addition to the arrests, the jeeps and dogs were confiscated.

HMFB is one of the members of LECF (Law Enforcement Cooperation Framework) initiated by WCS in 2011. With WCS help, HMFB has been conducting SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) patrols and snare removal campaigns, as well as camera trapping in the rural areas outside of Hunchun National Nature Reserve (HNR) since last January. To strengthen anti-poaching and wildlife conservation, HMFB established a special Wildlife Conservation Section in this July.

The arrests are a significant milestone in using SMART to increase the commitment of the forestry rangers and optimize the impact of their work on illegal activities within and around the protected areas while improving enforcement of wildlife laws.

In 2008, HNR was the first protected area in China to adopt SMART. The practice has since been extended to the Wangqing and Changbaishan Nature reserves, and adopted by the Hunchun Forestry Police. The evidence and experience collected so far proves the validity of this methodology; further expansion can play a significant role in promoting nature conservation in and around protected areas in China.WCS, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, has been working on Amur tiger and Amur leopard conservation in northeast China for over a decade. We helped China to establish the Hunchun Tiger Leopard Reserve in December 2001. Since then we have been working with local government and other partners to tackle threats such as poaching of both tigers and their prey and encouraging reforms that are leading to the return of tigers and leopards to this important landscape. The WCS China Program was recently acknowledged for this work by the Ford Green Motor Company, who presented the program with the 2013 Ford Green Pioneer Award.

This summer WCS camera traps recorded the presence of an adult resident female tiger in Hunchun, and just recently tracks of a female tiger with cubs were reported, an indication that the tiger population in Northeast China is on the rebound. Last month WCS confirmed that camera traps in the Wangqing Nature Reserve in Jilin Province recorded footage of a female Amur leopard with two cubs, marking the first record of breeding by this critically-endangered cat in China. The cameras, located some 30 km (18 miles) away from the primary Amur leopard population on the Russia side of the China-Russia border, are part of a region-wide camera trap project conducted by the Forestry Bureau of Jilin Province.

Source: Biologicaldiversity.orgPress ReleaseApproximately 1 million Americans stated their opposition to the Obama administration’s proposal to strip endangered species protections from gray wolves in a public comment period that closed today. This is the largest number of comments ever submitted on a federal decision involving endangered species and reflects broad dissatisfaction with the Obama administration’s politically driven move to turn wolf management over to states across most of the lower 48. “Americans overwhelmingly oppose removing protections for wolves, and for good reason. Wolves have recovered to just a fraction of their range and are severely threatened by state-sanctioned hunts intended to decimate them,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “We hope the Obama administration will hear the pleas of hundreds of thousands of citizens and maintain these critically needed protections for wolves.” The 750,000-plus comments, being delivered today to the Fish and Wildlife Service by multiple conservation groups, will bring the total number to well over 1 million. There were once up to 2 million gray wolves living in North America, but the animals had been driven to near-extinction in the lower 48 states by the early 1900s. After passage of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973 and protection of the wolf as endangered, federal recovery programs resulted in the rebound of wolf populations in limited parts of the country. Roughly 5,500 wolves now live in the continental United States — a fraction of the species’ historic numbers. “The North American gray wolf’s recovery in certain areas of the United States is something to celebrate, but an abundance of evidence shows the work is not yet complete,” said International Fund for Animal Welfare president and CEO Azzedine Downes. “I applaud actions to help protect this critical species, and I strongly urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to go through with this proposal.” The Obama administration’s proposal would remove existing protections for wolves everywhere except Arizona and New Mexico, where the Mexican wolf is struggling to survive with an estimated population of just 75 wolves. This proposal would abandon protections for wolves in places where wolf recovery is just in its infancy, such as Oregon and Washington, and would prevent wolves from recovering in other places where good wolf habitat has been identified, including northern California, the southern Rocky Mountains and the Northeast. “Oregon wolves have taken the first tentative steps toward recovery in the last few years,” said Sean Stevens, executive director of Oregon Wild. “If the Obama administration takes away the strong protections of the Endangered Species Act, we pull the rug out from the fragile success story here on the West Coast and leave the fate of wolves in the hands of state agencies in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming who have proven incapable of balanced management.” “The restoration of the gray wolf could be one of the great American wildlife conservation success stories if Secretary Jewell would just finish the job,” said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. More....

Source: Kcsg.comThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced that it will extend the deadline for our final decision on whether to list the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act. The Act allows for such an extension when there is substantial scientific disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the available data relevant to the decision at issue.

During the peer review process on our proposed rule to list the wolverine as threatened, we received a variety of opinions from the scientific community concerning the information we used to develop the proposed rules. Specifically, some peer reviewers questioned the information we used to describe wolverine habitat, and estimates of the likely impacts to wolverine habitat from future climate change. As a result, we reopened the comment period from October 31 to December 2, 2013 and received additional comments regarding the science behind our proposal. In response, we will be extending the deadline for the final listing decision by 6 months to further evaluate areas of scientific disagreement and uncertainty as they relate to the wolverine listing decision. We will publish a Federal Register notice extending the deadline for the final listing decision in January 2014. The new deadline for a final rule or withdrawal of the proposal will be August 4, 2014.

Copies of the proposed rules are also available at http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolverine/.

Source: Reuters.comBy Colleen JenkinsConservation groups have asked a U.S. judge to halt coyote hunting in eastern North Carolina, where the endangered wild red wolves roam, arguing that the wolves, which resemble coyotes, are being killed by mistake. The move was part of a lawsuit against the state's Wildlife Resources Commission, which authorized coyote hunting within a five-county area that is home to about 100 red wolves.The groups argue that the hunting further threatens the wolves, which are among the world's most endangered animals. Once common in the southeastern United States, red wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980, after a loss of habitat and intensive predator control programs.After a successful zoo-based breeding program in an effort to restore their population, the wolves were released back into the wild in North Carolina.At least five red wolves, whose coats and coloring are similar to coyotes, have been shot and killed in the state since October, according to wildlife officials.It is illegal to kill these wolves, which are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, and a reward of up to $26,000 has been offered as part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation into the recent deaths."Mistaken identity results in red wolves getting shot," said Sierra Weaver, an attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina."Ending coyote hunting would be the cleanest, easiest way," to avoid those killings, she said.The law center is seeking to block coyote hunting on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Welfare Institute. More....

Source: Iipdigital.USembassy.govPress ReleaseSurvival of the black-footed ferret is one of the success stories achieved in the 40 years since passage of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The black-footed ferret is among the rarest of North American mammals and was once thought extinct; a small ferret population was rediscovered in the 1980s. Through capture, controlled breeding and reintroduction to its habitat, the ferret is making slow but steady progress in rebuilding its numbers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Native American tribes and certain agencies have established recovering populations on tribal lands, but a form of plague that killed ferrets in the last century still remains a threat to the animals. More than 1,500 plant and animal species are listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. ESA, which was signed into law in December 1973. The U.S. law was adopted at a time of broadening global awareness that encroaching human activity threatened some species’ survival. In March 1973, the United States and 20 other nations signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and began a global movement now joined by 178 governments. CITES protects roughly 5,600 animal species and 30,000 plant species against over-exploitation through international trade. This global trade — worth billions of dollars and including hundreds of millions of living things — encompasses such diverse products as foods, exotic leather goods, musical instruments, timber, art objects and medicines. The U.S. ESA and CITES changed the ethics of this trade, establishing legal structures prohibiting the overexploitation of species. CITES governments have agreed that species must be preserved as “an irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the earth.” Photo.

Source: Thespectrum.comBy Tracie SullivanIron County property owners who get permits will no longer be limited in the number of prairie dogs they can take off their land, thanks to a new Habitat Conservation Plan the Iron County Commission passed Monday.Under the new plan, the commission can authorize the removal of an unlimited number of Utah prairie dogs each year from any 200 acres in the county. Because the prairie dogs are protected by the Endangered Species Act, the county is responsible in part to ensure the animal’s protection and recovery.In the past, the plan allowed the commission to take 40 prairie dogs a year. Permits authorizing property owners to remove a set number of Utah prairie dogs from their land were given to residents based on the number of the species on their properties.“There could be 40 dogs on one piece of property, so we were really limited in what we could do,” Commissioner Dave Miller said.The new plan will be in effect for two to three years, giving the commission time to get the species removed from the endangered list.“The long-term goal of all parties is to alleviate ESA regulations on private property and to conserve prairie dogs on protected habitat,” Commissioner Dale Brinkerhoff said.The plan was a consorted effort by the county, local property owners, People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Utah State Legislature. The idea was initially discussed at the Utah Prairie Dog Summit earlier this year.At the summit, officials laid out two objectives: to protect private property owners from the obstacles surrounding the prairie dogs and to stabilize and increase Utah prairie dog populations so the animal can be taken off the endangered species listing. Working with those goals in mind, the commission and other interest groups went to work this past summer to find a solution to the problem. More....

Source: Jhnewsandguide.comBy Mike Koshmrl Attorneys for the environmental group Earthjustice are scheduled to present oral arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit that claims mismanagement of Wyoming wolves by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Earthjustice represents Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity. The suit aims to maintain Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in the Equality State. Management of the large canines, which were reintroduced in 1995, has been handled by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department since September 2012. “The state has a history of hostile and extreme antiwolf laws and policies, which in the past caused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deny Wyoming the authority to manage wolves in the state,” an Earthjustice press release said. “However, the service reversed its position in 2012 and delisted wolves in Wyoming after state officials made what conservationists describe as only ‘cosmetic’ changes to the Wyoming wolf-management laws that the service previously deemed inadequate.” In more than 80 percent of Wyoming wolves are managed as predators and can be killed by any means at any time of year. The case will be heard at 10 a.m. EST on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Source: Wtae.comBy Sally WigginAt the beginning of the 20th century, there were 10 million wild elephants in Africa. Today, their numbers hover around 400,000. And The Wildlife Conservation Society estimates elephants are being slaughtered by poachers for their ivory at the rate of 96 a day.

"They are taking the big bulls, the breeding bulls. They are taking the matriarchs and the older females. The ones in the herd that have all the knowledge and all the information on how to get to water holes, and where the feeding areas are," said the Pittsburgh Zoo's elephant manager, Willie Theison.Theison oversees Pittsburgh's flourishing African elephant herd, which has several young elephants, a matriarch, and two breeding females. The Pittsburgh Zoo's breeding bull, Jackson is one of the most prolific bulls in captivity in North America. He is now at the zoo's second breeding facility, the International Conservation Center. Jackson is slated to breed with one of three female elephants, rescued from Botswana. The government had ordered them to be killed, and the zoo here stepped in and flew them all the way to the ICC from South Africa.And there is a pressing reason for this."Heaven forbid, if there are no elephants left in the wild. If we lost the captive populations of elephants, then we have no chance of reintroducing animals to depopulated areas in Africa," said Pittsburgh Zoo CEO Dr. Barbara Baker.The threat is real. The international ivory trade has come to resemble the international drug trade. Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service destroyed six tons of ivory seized, to highlight the escalating global poaching crisis which is driven by organized crime syndicates.The demand for ivory has never been higher. That demand is fueled in large part by a growing middle class in China. Ivory objects have been an important part of Chinese culture, and recent polls show that 84 percent of Chinese plan to buy ivory sometime in the near future.So conservationists and researchers are looking to preserve the genetic diversity of the wild population, as bulls become a favorite target of poachers. The Pittsburgh Zoo is involved in a project called Frozen Dumbo.Baker said, "We have the opportunity to go to Africa to collect sperm from wild bulls that someday may killed, and save their genetics to be able to inseminate female elephants around the world."Baker says it is important for zoos to support organizations like Save the Elephants, which helps train rangers in African countries, and outfit them with the technology to combat the sophisticated poaching efforts. But they are also making sure they ensure the survival of an aging captive population, in case the worst happens.